It looks like John Albert's wish to be a main-card fighter has come true sooner than expected.
A bout between Albert (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and fellow bantamweight Ivan Menjivar (23-8 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has promoted from the preliminary card to the main card of Wednesday's UFC on FUEL TV 1 event.
FUEL TV officials today confirmed the addition, which brings the FUEL TV-televised main card to six bouts, with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
UFC on FUEL TV 1 takes place at Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Neb. Albert vs. Menjivar initially was slated for the night's free preliminary-card Facebook stream, which precedes the night's televised main card. (As a reminder, FUEL TV is now available as part of a free-preview week on many cable platforms.)
In a story that ran earlier today on MMAjunkie.com, Albert explained how his most presssing goal in the UFC is to get main-card fights for the added visibility they bring. Most recently, he made a successful UFC debut and knocked out Dustin Pague in 69 seconds. The fight, which took place on the prelims, nonetheless aired as part of The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale main-card broadcast on Spike TV because of the dominant finish.
The full UFC on FUEL TV 1 card now includes:
MAIN CARD (FUEL TV)
Jake Ellenberger vs. Diego Sanchez
Dave Herman vs. Stefan Struve
Ronny Markes vs. Aaron Simpson
Philip De Fries vs. Stipe Miocic
T.J. Dillashaw vs. Walel Watson
John Albert vs. Ivan Menjivar
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
Jonathan Brookins vs. Vagner Rocha
Sean Loeffler vs. Buddy Roberts
Anton Kuivanen vs. Justin Salas
Bernardo Magalhaes vs. Tim Means
Source: John Albert vs. Ivan Menjivar promoted to UFC on FUEL TV 1 main card